It’s a riddle of perplexing proportions: A defense helps propel its team to a Super Bowl championship, returns months later with largely the same personnel, and slips to third-worst in the NFL.

For the Giants, this is reality. How and why? Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, interestingly, pointed to his players when asked for answers today.

"If you look at the tape," Fewell said, "we’re in position to make plays, and we haven’t made plays."

Is Fewell disappointed in his players? He said he wouldn’t go so far as to use that word, and his call for more plays to spark the team is similar to coach Tom Coughlin’s and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride’s refrain. But in saying that his players are in position and are just not making plays, Fewell indicated their execution is the issue, rather than the coaching scheme.

The Giants are currently ranked 30th in the league in total defense, giving up an average of 387.8 yards per game — including a whopping 927 yards over the past two games. Less than a year after winning Super Bowl XLVI, defensive tackle Chris Canty dubbed this a "fall from grace," and Fewell put it on the players’ will and determination to change that.

"I think they’ve been playing hard, but the you’ve got to make up in their mind that we’ve got to make some plays," Fewell said. "We’ve got to get a spark from somebody, somebody’s got to go through and make a football play and get everybody going. Either offensively, defensively or special teams, we need somebody to make a big play for us to get us rolling."

There is no doubt that a lack of big plays in all phases has hurt the Giants, particularly during a two-game losing skid that dropped them from being in control of their own playoffs destiny to needing a win and help from three other teams Sunday.

As the Giants were outscored, 67-14, in a pair of ugly losses at Atlanta and Baltimore, they failed to create any turnovers, despite close calls that included an overturned fumble. And giving up big plays has been "our nemesis" all year, Fewell said: The Giants have allowed 67 plays of 20 yards or more, and 16 plays of 40 yards or more.

"Again, we’ve been in position. We haven’t made a football play for the last couple weeks," Fewell said. "We’ve been in position to make football plays, but it hasn’t gone our way. They say turnovers come in bunches, and sometimes we get them in bunches, and right now we’re on a two-game dry spell. We’re going to work like the dickens to get turnovers in this football game."

They’re in luck with this week’s opponent: The Eagles have given away the ball 36 times this season, more than any other team in the NFL except the Chiefs. But the Giants’ reliance on creating turnovers (they have 34 takeaways, despite the recent drought) and their struggles in every key area of defense (stopping the run, rushing the passer and defending the pass) raise broader questions about what happened to this once-fierce unit.

In Fewell’s first season with the Giants, 2010, they ranked seventh in total defense. They are in line to finish with their worst rank going back at least two coordinators, even a vast statistical drop-off from 2009, Bill Sheridan’s only year at the helm before getting fired.

At times this season, some undercurrents of frustration with the scheme have emerged. Corey Webster openly called for the defensive backs to be allowed to play more aggressively, and defensive captain Justin Tuck admitted it was a strange feeling to go into the Saints game with a game plan that didn’t set up sacks. But Fewell has one big reason for his players to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"We won a Super Bowl in this system," defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. "That’s the main thing. We have the same signal caller that we did last year."

Fewell has most of the same players, too, although they’re not necessarily playing at the same level as last year. Asked about Tuck, who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury, Fewell said, "Is he effective as he was at the end of last year right now? No."

"I watch him every day, and some days he surprises me with what he does, and some days, it’s Justin," Fewell continued. "Justin is trying to play hard, but he’s not making any plays. Just like our guys haven’t made any plays in the last couple weeks. That’s just the function of, we’re not making plays. You’ve got to make plays in the football game to win football games."

Is this honesty, a public kick in the rear to his players, or self-preservation? Only time will tell.